Genesis 24

And Abraham was old, advanced in days; and the Lord blessed Abraham in all things.

And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, the ruler of all that was his, Put your hand under my thigh,

and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son Isaac from the daughters of the Chananites, among whom I dwell;

but you shall go to my land where I was born, and to my tribe, and you shall take a wife for my son Isaac from there.

And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to come back with me to this land; shall I take your son back to the land from which you came out?

And Abraham said to him, Take heed to yourself that you do not take my son back there.

The Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, who took me from my father's house and from the land where I was born, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, To you I will give this land and to your seed—he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son Isaac from there.

But if the woman is not willing to come with you to this land, you shall be clear from this oath of mine; only do not take my son back there.

And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

And the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and of all the good things of his master with him, and rose up and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.

And he made the camels lie down outside the city by the well of water toward evening, at the time when the women who draw water come out.

And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me success before me today, and show mercy to my master Abraham.

Behold, I am standing at the spring of water, and the daughters of those who dwell in the city are coming out to draw water.

And let it be that the virgin to whom I say, Tip down your water jar that I may drink, and she says to me, Drink, and I will water your camels also until they have finished drinking—let her be the one you have prepared for your servant Isaac; and by this I shall know that you have shown mercy to my master Abraham.

And it came to pass, before he had finished speaking in his mind, that behold, Rebekka came out, who was born to Bathouel, the son of Melcha the wife of Nachor, and Nachor was Abraham's brother; and she had her water jar upon her shoulders.

And the virgin was very beautiful in appearance; she was a virgin, no man had known her. And she went down to the spring, filled her water jar, and came up.

And the servant ran to meet her and said, Give me a little water to drink from your water jar.

And she said, Drink, lord. And she hastened and let down the water jar upon her arm, and gave him drink.

Until he had finished drinking. And she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they all have drunk.

And she hastened and emptied the water jar into the watering trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew water for all the camels.

And the man was studying her closely and kept silent, to know whether the Lord had prospered his way or not.

And it came to pass, when all the camels had finished drinking, that the man took gold earrings weighing a drachma each, and two bracelets for her hands, ten pieces of gold in weight.

And he asked her and said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me whether there is a place with your father for us to lodge.

And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bathouel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.

And she said to him, We have both straw and much fodder, and a place to lodge.

And the man was well pleased and bowed down to the Lord,

and said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his righteousness and his truth toward my master; as for me, the Lord has prospered my way to the house of my master's brother.

And the girl ran and reported these words to her mother's house.

Now Rebekka had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.

And it came to pass, when he saw the earrings and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekka his sister, saying, Thus the man spoke to me, that he came to the man, who was standing by the camels at the spring.

And he said to him, Come, enter in; blessed is the Lord; why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.

And the man entered into the house, and he unsaddled the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

And he set bread before them to eat; but he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words. And they said, Speak.

And he said, I am Abraham's servant.

And the Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great; and he gave him sheep and calves, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and donkeys.

And Sarra, my master's wife, bore one son to my master after he had grown old; and he gave him all that he had.

And my master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Chananites, among whom I sojourn in their land;

but you shall go to my father's house and to my tribe, and take a wife for my son from there.

And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not come with me.

And he said to me, The Lord, before whom I have been well pleasing, will send his angel with you and will prosper your way, and you shall take a wife for my son from my tribe and from my father's house.

Then you shall be innocent of my curse; for whenever you come to my tribe and they do not give her to you, then you shall also be innocent of my oath.

And coming today to the spring, I said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you are prospering my way on which I now go,

behold, I stand at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city will come out to draw water; and let it be that the virgin to whom I say, Give me a little water to drink from your water jar,

and she says to me, You drink, and I will draw water for your camels also—let her be the woman whom the Lord has prepared for his own attendant Isaac; and by this I shall know that you have shown mercy to my master Abraham.

And it came to pass, before I had finished speaking in my mind, immediately Rebekka came out with her water jar upon her shoulders, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, Give me a drink.

And she hastened and let down her water jar from herself and said, You drink, and I will water your camels also. And I drank, and she watered my camels.

And I asked her and said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, I am the daughter of Bathouel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. And I put the earrings on her and the bracelets on her hands.

And being well pleased, I bowed down to the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who prospered me in a way of truth, to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.

Now then, if you will deal mercifully and justly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn to the right or to the left.

Then Laban and Bathouel answered and said, This command has come from the Lord; we shall not be able to contradict you, bad against good.

Behold, Rebekka is before you; take her and go, and let her be wife to the son of your master, as the Lord has spoken.

And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard these words, that he bowed down to the ground to the Lord.

And the servant brought out vessels of silver and of gold and clothing, and gave them to Rebekka; and he gave gifts to her brother and to her mother.

And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and they lay down. And rising up in the morning he said, Send me away, that I may go to my master.

But her brothers and her mother said, Let the virgin remain with us about ten days, and after that she shall go.

But he said to them, Do not detain me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away, that I may go to my master.

And they said, Let us call the girl and ask her mouth.

And they called Rebekka and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go.

So they sent away Rebekka their sister and her possessions, and Abraham's servant and those with him.

And they blessed Rebekka their sister and said to her, You are our sister; become thousands of myriads, and let your seed inherit the cities of their adversaries.

And Rebekka rose up with her maids, and they mounted the camels and went with the man; and the servant took Rebekka and departed.

Now Isaac was travelling through the wilderness by the Well of the Vision; and he was dwelling in the land toward the southwest.

And Isaac went out to muse in the plain toward evening, and lifting up his eyes he saw camels coming.

And Rebekka lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac, and she jumped down from the camel,

and said to the servant, Who is that man walking in the plain to meet us? And the servant said, This is my master. And she took her veil and covered herself.

And the servant recounted to Isaac all the things that he had done.

And Isaac went into his mother's house and took Rebekka, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted concerning Sarra his mother.